but what about us latinos? we ve been here in this city, and we ve got every kind of latino. you want your puerto ricans? wepa. you want your cubans? dale! dominicans? que lo que tigre. colombianos? todo bien, todo bien. mexicanos? no manches, guey. and this is where i grew up, too. and when i was a kid, i don t know what the streets were paved with, but it damn sure as hell was not gold. but that didn t stop latinx new yorkers from making big contributions. basquiat, rita moreno puerto rican. cardi b dominican. supreme court justice sotomayor, nuyorican from the bx. even the very first non-indigenous person to live and work in the island of manhattan in the 1600s was juan rodriguez, a dominicano. mira eso, right from the start, we ve been here making this city great. now, i don t know what new york would be without latinos, but it sure as hell wouldn t smell as good, it wouldn t taste as good, and it definitely wouldn t sound as good. that s right, cause salsa music was in
Basquiat, Rita Moreno Puerto rican. Cardi bdominican. Supreme Court Justice sotomayor, nuyorican from the bx. Even the very first nonindigenous person to live and work in the island of manhattan in the 1600s was juan rodriguez, a dominicano. Mira eso, right from the start, weve been here making this city great. Now, i dont know what new york would be without latinos, but it sure as hell wouldnt smell as good, it wouldnt taste as good, and it definitely wouldnt sound as good. Thats right, cause salsa music was invented here in new york, thats right. [vocalizing along to salsa music] youre welcome. I wanna retrace my steps from queens, where i grew up, all the way to the Bright Lights of broadway and show you how latinos have contributed to the culture of the greatest city on earf. Thats right, i said earf. And you cant tell Latino Stories without plenty of good food, music, and dancing. So come on, lets go, lets go. Come on. [upbeat music] welcome to Jackson Heights. Thats right, this i
they were promised homes, [speaks spanish], community. - brown kids, it s like it s like their first exposure to something - that s people who look like them, talk like them. - exactly. - talk about things that they re interested in that is culturally theirs. - yeah. - i was a part of other ensembles, but i didn t get the stage time i deserved because they weren t doing shows that had roles for me. - yeah. - that s when i started writing even more because i was like, i m gonna just write my own stuff. i wanna see stories that i know my story s on stage. - that s how i started, too, cause i felt like i m in this rich community in new york city. everyone around me is a hero, an artist, and they re all latin. but i don t see them on television. i don t see them in plays. so i wanted to write the world that i saw. - yes. - not the world that was kind of falsely being projected. - right. why, when they do something latino, it has to be so latino? - yeah, yeah. - why can t we just be us?
- brown kids, it s like it s like their first exposure to something - that s people who look like them, talk like them. - exactly. - talk about things that they re interested in that is culturally theirs. - yeah. - i was a part of other ensembles, but i didn t get the stage time i deserved because they weren t doing shows that had roles for me. - yeah. - that s when i started writing even more because i was like, i m gonna just write my own stuff. i wanna see stories that i know my story s on stage. - that s how i started, too, cause i felt like i m in this rich community in new york city. everyone around me is a hero, an artist, and they re all latin. but i don t see them on television. i don t see them in plays. so i wanted to write the world that i saw. - yes. - not the world that was kind of falsely being projected. - right. why, when they do something latino, it has to be so latino? - yeah, yeah. - why can t we just be us? - yeah, yeah. - why can t i just be me? why do i have t
oh, yeah. they were promised homes, [speaks spanish], community. - brown kids, it s like it s like their first exposure to something - that s people who look like them, talk like them. - exactly. - talk about things that they re interested in that is culturally theirs. - yeah. - i was a part of other ensembles, but i didn t get the stage time i deserved because they weren t doing shows that had roles for me. - yeah. - that s when i started writing even more because i was like, i m gonna just write my own stuff. i wanna see stories that i know my story s on stage. - that s how i started, too, cause i felt like i m in this rich community in new york city. everyone around me is a hero, an artist, and they re all latin. but i don t see them on television. i don t see them in plays. so i wanted to write the world that i saw. - yes. - not the world that was kind of falsely being projected. - right. why, when they do something latino, it has to be so latino? - yeah, yeah. - why can t we ju